The cathedral was closed in August 2009 to allow new flooring, seating, lighting, heating and sound systems to be installed. The renovation has restored the original grandeur of the space. A new marble altar, baptismal font and a painting of St John Ogilvie by Peter Howson are featured in the renovated space. Peter Howson’s painting features images of St Patrick and St Brigid and was installed in the porch area, paying homage to the Irish community’s contribution to the local Church. The altar and ambo that have been installed were both designed by Archbishop Mario Conti.
Specially commissioned Scandinavian oak seating, crafted by a company in Ireland, has been installed at the cathedral. The glass screens, separating the foyer area from the cathedral worship space, feature the coats of arms of Archbishop Conti, Cardinal Thomas Winning and Archbishop James Scanlan, together with those of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. A mosaic, displaying the Coat of Arms of Glasgow Archdiocese created in the Holy Land, will welcome visitors and parishioners to the cathedral. It has been laid on the floor of the cathedral entrance.
The redecoration of the cathedral also involved the use of more than 3,000 books of gold leaf. The ceiling features decorative elements in an exquisite gold, blue, red and green colour as compared to the previous grey colour. The grey pillars have been decorated with ribbons of blue and gold and also painted to look like stone. Other new features include mosaics commissioned from Bethlehem craftsmen. A new baptismal font is featured at the centre of the nave in white marble sourced from Carrara in Italy. It features a sculpted frieze around its rim depicting people walking towards a baptism.
The cloistered garden, the final element of Archbishop Conti’s vision, will be ready by May 2011. It will feature a fountain and a 200-year-old olive tree donated by a village in Tuscany.
St Andrew’s Cathedral was built as a chapel in 1816 by the architect James Gillespie Graham and is the mother church of more than 250 parishes in the west of Scotland.
